In a recently filed lawsuit at Rockingham Superior Court, Pamela Jodoin — who did not have health insurance when she was treated there — claims she was billed at higher rates than state law allows after she was hurt in a car accident.

“Exeter Hospital had an obligation to notify Ms. Jodoin of her rights ... including the right as a self-pay patient not to be billed any greater amount than Exeter Hospital would otherwise receive from governmental programs such as Medicare,” Portsmouth attorney Christopher Grant wrote in the lawsuit. “Exeter Hospital continued over a course of multiple years making claims against Ms. Jodoin in unlawful amounts.”

Pamela and Thomas Jodoin filed the lawsuit against Exeter Hospital, Benuck & Rainey, Inc., a company in Barrington hired by the hospital to collect the debt and Welts, White & Fontaine, a Nashua law firm who also was hired to help collect the debt, according to the lawsuit.

Debra Vasapolli, director of public relations and development for Exeter Health Resources, declined to comment directly on the merits of the suit. She gave a prepared statement: “Exeter Hospital provides multiple support options to help the uninsured access the healthcare system. The hospital does not and has never, limited access to emergency services based on an individual’s ability to pay. By regulation, our uninsured patients receive a discount equal to the average discount we provide our top three largest insurers.”

Vasapoli also said the hospital “offers both catastrophic and routine charity care programs that provide discounts up to 100 percent for patients in our service area, based on family income and size, starting at 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Each year these programs provide millions of dollars in free care to hundreds of area residents, all of which is documented in our annual Community Benefits Report to the state and federal government.”

No one representing the other two defendants in the lawsuit could be reached for comment.

The lawsuit also claims that Exeter Hospital filed a lien against Jodoin, who also filed a lawsuit against the driver of the other car in the accident, according to the lawsuit.

The hospital continued to pursue a bill at higher than what was allowed under state law even though a Rockingham County Superior Court judge in September “issued an order reducing Exeter Hospital’s lien claimed,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also claims the defendants “engaged in numerous forms of violations of the New Hampshire Unfair Debt Collections Practive Act,” by pursuing “this wrongful claim of a debt.”

“(The defendants) have engaged in extreme and outrageous misconduct against Ms. Jodoin which has caused severe emotional distress for her throughout the years that this matter has gone on with this improper debt being claimed ... as well as seeking an attachment against her property and otherwise,” the lawsuit states.

The couple’s attorney has asked the court for compensatory and punitive damages, along with attorney fees, according to the lawsuit.